


Crash and Burn

by Ellen Smithee (ellensmithee)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-04
Updated: 2011-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-16 02:30:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellensmithee/pseuds/Ellen%20Smithee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day great-uncle Algie threw Neville out the window...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crash and Burn

Despite being forgetful, Neville remembers the events of that day with vivid clarity, indelible upon his memory like ink upon parchment.

It is the first really warm spring day. That's why the windows are opened. He remembers the sun on his skin, the sweet scent of the budding lupines curling up the trellis next to his window. The smell of the wet earth after the overnight rain - just like it smells when they go to visit Granddad.

'Why doesn't he just let go?' Neville thinks. Then he could go stay with Granddad forever, wrapped cosy in a satin bower, surrounded by his favourite flowers and the comforting smell of freshly tilled earth. Looking down, he notices a dead mouse lying in the flowerbed below. A spider scurrying up the side of the house. The magpies nattering at Gran's cat as it scrambles to jump down from the tree to escape the mother's pecking beak.

All of a sudden, the tight grip around his ankles does actually let go and Neville is falling. As he rushes towards the earth, relief washes over him and he smiles. No more fear of disappointing. No more expectations to meet. Just peace. In the last few feet, he relaxes, filled with a quiet joy.

And then he bounces.

Not once, not twice, but a dozen times. Out of the garden and down the street. Past Mrs Stanbury gossiping at her front gate. Past old Mr Garrett on his way to the pub.

When his family catches up with him, they coo over him and lavish him with attention as they have never done before. Great-auntie Enid smiles wanly and proclaims that she'd Seen it all along, while great-uncle Algie rolls his eyes and winks at Neville, clapping him amiably on the back as if he hadn't just tried to kill his Squib nephew yet again. Gran just cries. For the rest of the day, Neville is in a daze as Gran and Enid ply him with sweets and one relative after another Floos in to congratulate Gran.

Later, alone in his bed, however, he cries, clutching the stuffed hippogriff Granddad gave him. What he has feared most these long years has finally come to pass.

Neville is magical after all.


End file.
